Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly defended the police department yesterday against accusations that it is not properly disciplining officers accused of misconduct.

Speaking in front of a group of African-American business leaders from Harlem at a luncheon at Columbia University, Mr. Kelly dismissed assertions by members of an independent oversight agency, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, that it has become more lax with officers who violate stop-and-search guidelines.

Mr. Kelly gave two examples of specific cases, including that of two teenagers stopped on Halloween for egging cars. The teenagers were covered with “the remnants of eggs and shaving cream,” Mr. Kelly said, “although they did not have whole intact eggs on them at the moment.”

The board recommended that two officers who stopped to question the teenagers be disciplined. “We disagreed, and believe that common sense must prevail,” Mr. Kelly said.

A spokesman for the board, Andrew Case, said he was not able to discuss individual cases yesterday, but defended the rulings of the board, which he said is comprised mostly of lawyers and legal experts.

“It is clear that over the past 18 months that the department has issued consistently more lenient disciplinary measures,” he said.